Pension safety net may lift levy

The safety net for company pensions may charge firms higher levies during good economic periods so payments can be reduced in difficult times.

The Pension Protection Fund's new chief executive, Alan Rubenstein, said such a move would provide a break for businesses during economic downturns.

He told the Financial Times: "There is a thought that we should be much more counter-cyclical than we are now. If so, we would hold the levy - even in nominal terms - but raise it by more than the rate of inflation in future years."

He said the subject would need to be formally approved by the full board if it was to go ahead.

The PPF pays out pensions to people who lose their retirement savings through their company going bankrupt. It is funded through a levy paid by all companies that have defined benefit pensions.

The PPF has pledged to keep the levy level in real terms until 2010-11, rising each year in line with wage inflation. A total of £675m was raised last year, with contributions this year rising by 3.6% to £700m.

The PPF has taken over 100 schemes, with 290 under assessment, a process that takes around two years.

The PPF had a £500m deficit when it last published its accounts for the year to the end of March, but Rubenstein dismissed as "nonsense" speculation that the fund was in danger of becoming insolvent due to rising numbers of corporate failures placing greater demands on it.